The General Director of the Costa Rican Police Force, Commissioner Juan José Andrade and the Head of Aviation Operations of the Air Surveillance Service (SVA), Captain Alex Romero announced the beginning of strategic joint efforts in the fight against crime.
The Director of the Police Force explained that thanks to the support of the Air Surveillance Service ( SVP) it has been possible to successfully find and captured suspects linked to different crimes.
Captain Alex Romero, Head of Aviation Operations of SVA highlighted the importance of collaborating with colleagues on the ground. According to Romero, through helicopter surveillance it is possible to observe and follow those suspects who are trying to escape from the police and identify their exact location for their capture.
Police Commissioner Andrade stated that the Police Force has been working with the help of helicopter surveillance for five moments, but only during certain incidents. Now, the goal is to provide air surveillance in strategic places to support ground operations.
The main operations have been carried out in San Jose, Alajuela and Heredia with very successful results.
For example, in Palmares, police officers seized a Nissan Sentra that had been reported stolen. Once the police received the alert, the helicopter located the vehicle and officers were able to arrest the suspect. A few minutes later, another suspect was arrested in Alajuela downtown.
In Heredia, on April 28th, two men assaulted a butcher shop in Santa Rosa of Santo Domingo. The suspects fled on a motorcycle but they were later found and captured in San Jose. Police officers were able to recover some of the money, cell phones from the victims and a fire gun.
On May 30, police officers captured three fugitives wanted for a string of crimes including robbery, assault, attempted murder and murder.